Draghonism
Draghonism '''is a monotheistic religion founded by the seraph Pahadron. This religion quickly spread throughout Westenlund, despite having many origins in the Sicarii faith of I'jin. The main focus of this religion is somewhat contradictory, as the Harrial (the Draghone holy book) states to live a virtuous life, but also to spread the word of Draghonism by converting others, no matter what methods you have to use. '''98 SE, Return of Pahadron The Bright Pahadron was a Læthlyn that descended from the Citadel of An some time during the middle of the Dis'ii Regime period, whom rallied the oppressed realms of men against their demon overlords, and personally slew their king Igneo Morte. After Igneo Morte's demise, the mighty demon's carcass burst into a great and terrible fiery wave, that consumed a great number of his demon horde, and Pahadron. The realms of man and elf wept for the demise of Pahadron, and were so grateful that a thousand songs were sung in his honor. He went down as a legend, and was never heard from after his "death". Then, in 98 SE, Pahadron returned to Westenlund, the continent he died in. He stated that he had returned a hundred years before then, but only now found his way back to the those he called "his children". He stood in Ardor, what was considered the capital of Westenlund (it was the capital of Aelonny but was the richest city in the west and indeed the world), and preached to the townsfolk that after his death, he saw the afterlife, and he met with whom he said was the only existing god in the world. He spoke of Herran, and said that Herran gave Pahadron another chance to return to the world and do good, but only if he spread the word of him and his teachings. He said there was a realm in the afterlife called Draclannia, which was a grand paradise of white grass and the bluest, cloudless skies. He said there you would have everything you've ever wanted, and you would only go there if you lived a virtuous life, and did as Pahadron said. If you did not do so, however, after death your soul would go to a place called Sulvorn, where their souls would be tormented by demons for eternity. The audience began scratching their heads at the latter of what he spoke of. They began to question him, but he eventually won their hearts through means of his legacy, wise words, and giving displays of grand magic that he claimed was granted to him by Herran. He waved his hand and cured every diseased person in Aelonny, and traveled to the cemetery, where he resurrected all of the recently dead. As parents were reunited with their sons whom died in various wars, and bastards met with their fathers whom met the same fate, many tears were shed. That day, all of Aelonny unanimously united under the faith of Draghonism (a name that means "destined for paradise" in Læthlyn tongue), and their armies armed themselves and launched a grand crusade to convert all of Westenlund. The Draghonising of Westenlund Note; I'm forced to use pictures that have crosses in them for this part, you'll just have to bear with it This is where the face of virtue, purity and kindness stopped with Draghonism, and instead of an age of prosperity and happiness, a wave of bloodshed and manipulation washed over Westenlund. At the time, Aelonny was the most populated nation of Westenlund, and their full military strength was enough to march on any of their neighbors. They first send priests to the people of a nation, however, and the priests, accompanied by clergymen, attempt to spread the word of Herran. Most of the time, these priests would have either been sent back or killed by a random guard or commoner. Once, Ardor sent a caravan full of priests and clergymen to a large Burslander tribe, with materials to build a church. Two horses were sent back to Ardor, with large, heavy sacks dangling from their saddles. The guards opened the sack and out poured the heads of the priest and all the clergymen. This tribe was later completely destroyed by Aelonn knights. Indeed, their faith did not spread peacefully. Almost everyone rejected Draghonism (save for the Golladians whom surrendered immediately in fear of what may happen if they didn't. With this, the Ardorian armies sallied out from Aelonny, accompanied by priests and clergymen. They easily conquered the neighboring Vardonnians and Turismen, but the Burslandic and Barbadonnic tribes resisted them and fought long and hard. Losing significant casualties to the Burslanders and Barbadonans, they instead marched west and south, aiming instead for the weaker and less militarized Gallar tribes and Arglo city-states, whom they easily conquered. After conquering people, the Aelonns converted them to Draghonism, by various methods, not usually peaceful. These people would then help the Aelonns conquer everyone else, which overtime, they did. Soon they managed to weaken Bursland, and afterwards they marched on them with full strength and occupied their capital. Afterwards, the king of Bursland, Aella, converted to Draghonism and ordered his people to do the same, to avoid more casualties. Barbadon did the same, realizing their cause was lost. Many other nations followed suit, and eventually, Westenlund was "unified" under Draghonism. The Atrocities of the Draghones The spread of Draghonism was difficult, as the pagan natives hated it and everything it stood for. They even hated Pahadron for what he was doing to the people he once loved. Nine times out of ten, an individual rejected Draghonism. In response to this, the Draghones committed many vile and cruel deeds and developed conversion methods that were heinous and cruel. Atrocities committed by Draghone churches and crusades * The sacking of Turiston and the butchering of almost all of the pagans (mainly doctors, gothi and scholars) within the city walls, all libraries, statues and altars were destroyed. This was done to erase the legacy of renown pagan kings and heroes. * The burning of twenty five border villages in Vardonny, the execution of over a thousand pagan villagers, the introduction of burning men at the stake. * The hanging of the Golladian king, Freydin, even after he surrendered and swore to convert to Draghonism infront of the bishop himself. This was done because Freydin was a pagan hero, whom they believed would never have actually converted and would later invoke revolution. * The felling of the sacred trees in Vardonny, simply to insult the pagans whom lived there. * The sacking of the great Arglo city of Fenara, the rape-genocide of Arglo men, women, and children, the burning of the great libraries, the destruction of every statue within the city walls except the one to Pahadron, the hanging of any doctor, scholar or godspeaker, and the desecration of anything they couldn't destroy. This was listed at the time as one of the greatest dishonors committed in the name of Herran, but other deeds would soon surpass this. This was done both because Arglo refused to surrender during the siege, caused great casualties to the crusaders' armies, and because Fenara was one of the greatest symbols of knowledge in the pagan world. * After the Burslandic capital city of Heiðhal was successfully conquered (the city held out for many days and caused severe casualties to the armies besieging it and killed the bishop in the process), the city's garrison was beaten, raped, mutilated and tortured in other forms. The garrison's commander was castrated, and then raped by fifty different men and then beaten within an inch of his life before being thrown into his own prison. * The usage of cultist insurrections (although some dismiss this as a conspiracy, it was widely known that it was their doing and the timing was way too coincidental to deny). * After all of Westenlund was supposedly converted, the bishop made it completely legal for Draghones to harass pagans as they saw fit, leading to many other atrocities that will not be spoken of. * Once a Draghone church in the Burslandic town of Veiðenheim interpreted the Harrial differently than the bishop taught the priests. They started spreading word of their take on the Harrial, but then the bishop ordered the city's garrison to arrest the church-goers and bring them to the center of the town. There they were beaten, castrated, raped, and later sold as slaves to an Ecosian city (although no one got word of this in Veiðenheim). The worst part of all of this is that it's still going on today, even in Rollo at the borders of Centen. So far, the only incident that's been recorded is that they captured a few orc children and burned them at the stake, but that's just the only one committed openly so far. Most people are sure that more heinous deeds done in the shadows will be revealed later in history. Methods of Conversion, as used by crusaders, priests, and the bishop himself There are also the cruel methods as mentioned before that the crusaders used to convert people. These methods are not pictured for they are far too gruesome. * Capturing the children of various pagan chieftains and kings and threatening to murder them unless they and their subjects converted to Draghonism, sometimes the children and the chieftains/kings were killed anyway after the conversion. * Bribing various chieftains and kings to convert. And if they did not accept, following through with either another method or killing them. * Invoking rebellion among the commoners, and slaughtering the commoners if they did not revolt. * Bribing the sons of various chieftains and kings to convert, and then assassinating the father. * When conquering a pagan town or village and they did not convert, they took a handful of the population (usually around 10%), and performed gruesome, brutal acts on them in the middle of the area for all to see. These acts included, but are not limited to; raping, beating, flaying, crippling, blinding (eye-gouging), castration, the cutting of other sensitive body parts, and the worst part is that these men were kept alive after these doings, and made to live among the population still. These acts terrified everyone, and the priest warned that the same would befall them if they did not convert. And indeed, they did the same acts to another handful every day the majority of the settlement did not attend church. * Destroying pagan idols and murdering pagan godspeakers, sometimes this alone was enough to cause the population to lose faith in paganism and convert. * Indeed, the threat of going to Sulvorn after death was enough to get the more superstitious of the population to convert. * Speaking out against pagan practices and deeming them as embarrassing. This may have helped convert the more self-conscious pagans. Life under Draghonism After all of Westenlund was completely "converted", daily life lived by the principles of the Harrial was generally dreary and depressing. As former tribes were forced to assimilate into feudal societies, arguments and conflict was had. Not one week went by without someone (no matter what gender, age or origin) being burned at the stake or taken from their homes for unknown reasons by the local church. More and more men began enlisting in their local lord's army, the secret pagans among them hoping to one day die in battle and be with their dead pagan fathers. Many of the older men and women committed suicide in various ways to escape this grey and miserable conformist lifestyle. Even nobles did this at times, leaving their young bratty sons to take over, whom caused much misfortune. It wasn't long before the church started increasing their laws against pagan ideals, and even banned all pagan holidays, forcing the people of Westenlund to instead celebrate holidays that bear uncanny resemblance to the holidays celebrated by the I'jinites of Yarasim. The only exceptions were Death Day and Rebirth, the holidays that celebrated the death of Pahadron during the combustion of Igneo Morte and his return during the late Second Era. To a select few, this seemed less like erasing pagan culture, and more like erasing Westenlund culture, and replacing it with the culture of her enemies. This caused the beginning of a mass exodus, people began to flee Westenlund for the northern lands. So many people began leaving their countries that it became an issue to the church and the nations themselves. Pahadron himself ordered every king to close his borders and allow no man to leave, and thus overpopulation also became an issue and further added to the horrible living standard of Draghonist Westenlund. Even worse, the church ruined many forms of entertainment. They banned art that did not promote Draghone ideals and banned songs that glorified paganism or pagan heroes. This lead to revolts, which were either put down by a crusader army or starved out, as rebels were given no shelter and villages suspected of housing rebels would be burnt down. Soon, the church started organizing secret police that they called the Dramortars (literally translating to "holy murderers"), whom would act as normal parts of a garrison, village or town, but if they saw any signs of impending revolt they would put it down by murdering the men whom would cause it in secret. Eventually lords started declaring war on each other for extremely petty reasons, and others would provoke other nobles so that they might start a war. This happened because the depressing boredom of life in Westenlund became so overbearing that war became the best outlet. The church knew of this, and had no issues. When approached and asked to resolve a petty war, a priest would often speak to both lords but would not have much effect, and the priests knew this. When the Vikingarnir from Rollo pillaged Westenlund's coasts, the people of Westenlund envied them for being so free. Some Burslanders even begged the Vikingarnir to take them when they disembarked back to Rollo. At some point, a large Vikingarnir warband besieged and conquered the port city of Unarþsheim (renamed Seaholm by the crusaders but the name did not stick amongst the natives) in Bursland, and under their leader's rule, paganism was allowed, and all the laws of Draghonism were abolished. Burslanders started flocking to this city en masse, causing great panic in the church. A rather large crusader army was sent immediately to besiege the city, and anyone approaching the siege camp was murdered without question. The garrison of the city was heavily bolstered however, and some nobles from Bursland even jumped at the opportunity and marched to Unarþsheim to meet the besiegers in battle on the side of the Rollonians. After the besieging party was defeated, Pahadron was furious. As soon as the besiegers were driven off, Pahadron used his incredible power to lift a massive, mighty wave from the sea, and bring it down over Unarþsheim, completely destroying the city and taking it and everyone inside or around it into the sea. He later told everyone that this happening was done by Herran, and that he unleashed his wrath on the pagan inhabitants of the city. Most people believed him, and there was a period of no revolutions (this did not stop the petty wars amongst nobles however), and Vikingr raids happened somewhat less frequently (and when they occurred it was mainly just a hit-and-run). Soon the people of Westenlund began accepting their fates, and less suicides were had. The armies of Westenlund were massive during this period, as so many wanted to escape the miserable lives of the village and instead lawfully kill others. This indeed caused a degeneration of western society, violence and lust became the main emotions of western men and the petty wars grew grotesque and horrible. Commoners whom did not enlist in the army of the local lord simply lived their lives in fear, hoping for a Vikingr raid. Indeed the Vikingarnir became less of a hated enemy during this period and more of a symbol of paganism never dying, and to the bloated armies of coastal lords they became an entertaining force to fight and helped kill off some of the weaker soldiers that weren't worth feeding. The churches recognized use for them as well, for they helped with the overpopulation when they butchered commoners, but needless to say, they were not pleased when the Vikingr started burning down churches and pillaging monasteries. This began the increasing of the use of propaganda by the church. They wrote their own version of the history books, where they described paganism as "a demonic collection of religions, whom practiced horrible and unspeakable things", and described pagan rituals like so; "We witnessed pagans having gruesome festivals where they sacrificed virgins to their gods, and men were allowed to rape any woman they saw. We then knew we had to put an end to these evil and vile practices." They didn't spare the Vikingarnir either, and demonized them the most. They wrote this of them; "From the barbaric and savage far northern reaches of the land came the vikings (commonized form of Vikingarnir), whom sailed to any lands they saw as weak and attacked their coastal lands. They kill the men and rape the women, and sell the children into slavery. Sometimes they might sacrifice the children to their god of war Wodin, or rape them or the men. Nothing was too vile to satisfy their lust for blood and chaos." They also wrote this of their conquest of Westenlund; "We did not outright attack the savages, instead we prayed to Herran, whom blessed us with an aura of protection so that we would not be harmed by their blades. We then killed only their priests and spared everyone else, whom cowered in fear before us. We told them to rise and not to fear us, but to fear and praise Herran." I will let you guess what they wrote of the rest of history. Despite being hilariously obvious to people who knew their history, the average man or woman believed these fairy tales of civilized Draghone men fighting against the pagan savages and grew to hate their ancestors and fear the Vikingarnir, and the sight of a Rollonian longship in the distance became a sign of impending doom. This lead to many men signing up when the time came for the Aelo-Burslandic conquest of Rollo, a new crusade against paganism. This is where we stand now, will you take up arms and stand against this scourge of pious imperialism? Or will you bend the knee to them, rejecting these tales of conquest and accepting Herran as your loving god?Category:Foreign events Category:Religion